Improve your "coach-a-bility factor". Ask yourself - do I second guess my coach a lot? Do I complain a lot? Do I skip practice every now and then? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to work on this! You could even try asking your coach what you can improve on. Bottom line is - get your high school coach on your side. You need a great recommendation from him/her.

     No matter how strong or weak you are now, get better! Showing an improvement goes very far. Starting off weak and staying weak is bad, starting off strong and getting weaker is the worst. Ask your coach how you can improve your technique or what exercises you can do at home to get stronger. Track your improvement and include it on your rowing resume.

     Make contact with your future coaches! Start with the admissions office and ask them who to contact. The NCAA has rules on when you can speak to them but it doesn't hurt if you try to initiate the contact. Tell them that you are seriously interested in attending their college (academics first!) and rowing for their program. Showing that you've done your homework and know about the college on top of the fact that you are confident will really impress them.

     Make sure that you are the one making the contact. If you are really shy, talk to mom, dad, coach or a guidance counselor to come up with a game plan on what you will say. It is always easier to have mom or dad make the calls, and sometimes they might even want to, but I cannot stress it enough - you will make such a strong impression if you call so why pass up this opportunity. You can always call back later or email if you forget to ask an important question.

     Visit your top 3 - 5 colleges and arrange to meet one of the crew coaches when you are there. Get a confirmation that you are meeting with the coach before you make the trip. This will give you a sense to see if you like the college as well as how well you will fit in on the team. See if you can arrange to sit in on classes, eat a meal with the team or even attend the practice.

     Make follow up contact with the coach or recruiter. If you get accepted, call them and tell them. They might already know but showing your enthusiasm is a good thing. Do this even if you are undecided on which college is your first choice.

     Try to see if you can meet a coach at one of your races. If your team happens to go to the same races that your dream college attends, try to let them know that before hand and then find their tent and introduce yourself. Introducing yourself is the best, having someone you know on the team or a coach introduce you is good, but having mom or dad do the dirty work for you is a no-no!